my lights are going up sunday. need advice!

512detail

512detail

New member
finally getting some lights hung in garage

heres what i have: and i can get more or other lights if necessary. this is my main goal for today/tomorrow. clean garage and figure out where these will go and buy whatever else i need.

i have 8 on hand but could use a few more or maybe i just need some non tube style led lights too

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4 ft 4k bright white led

figured this would do to hang but up for suggestions as i only bought 1 so far
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i didnt have the extra $ at the time for fancier ones but do now

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i was assured this can be turned into a dual dimmer
feel free to rain on my parade if that isnt so

fuse box is quite full
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looks like an uphill battle but my friend/client/club member does this for a living so that`s good

●most important part●
i have no idea where to put the lights!

here is a pic and some high quality sketches, lol

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top of pic is garage door/rear of vehicle area just fyi

as you can see i put the cars a little over to the side of the garage. also i am a terrible speller, ha

that square is the attic opening

i was thinking something like this for the lights...the ones perpendicular to the car would be double ballasts (in my mind at least)
single for the ones garage length wise

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or

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Im thinking about trying to find some elbow extension light holder for the wall...my biggest PITA is being on this wall and having to drag around the inspection light for general lighting use

should i put a 4ft led on the wall or a few different bulbs on some strip type lighting?

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all the stuff hanging on that peg strip need to go anyways and i plan to replace the old school stereo too so i can get some of that wall space back

i know i should have posted this earlier but i still have two entire days to plan and all day today to get any supplies i need

any advice/direction is greatly appreciated

-Brandt K.

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I have these from BJs. Just 4 in my two car garage and one in the storage/work area.

Just hung them in Feb.
I recall major shadowing from the garage opener rails and had to orient my lights perpendicular to the rails, (i think) ..I have 2 doors, so 2 openers and 4 rails.
I can easily explain on a diagram of how to layout the lights on the ceiling. I don`t have any on my walls, but the idea is the same.
Its a 1+2+2+2+1 thing, sooooo easy.
I`ll look at your other questions if they aren`t answered before I get home later tonight.



http://www.bjs.com/lights-of-americ...y+Shop+Light&gclid=CPTP0Kie7M8CFQVehgodFtsBvg


http://www.bjs.com/lights-of-americ...y+Shop+Light&gclid=CPTP0Kie7M8CFQVehgodFtsBvg
 
Dunno why you want dimmers in a garage.
The fixture/ lamps need to be dimmable AND dimmer listed for dimming the type of light your dimming.

That blue box without the cover looks like an "old work" box.
Can be easily removed and changed to a 2 or 3 gang box IF whoever put it in didn`t yank the romex leaving no slack.

Is that a subpanel? Or the only panel you have with a disconnect outside?
 
First suggestion is painting all walls and ceiling high gloss white. Second is lights close to the perimeter, hardest thing I find is seeing the lower side of the car/truck in my garage. If you have the room for a stand light behind you that can help big time on the sides but I find it gets in the way all the time tripping over it. Now what I do is turn the car around as the inside its light well from other side of the garage but out wall side is a nightmare. Wifes jeep is easy its so small I can pull it in then angle it in both bays, not my truck it just fits with enough room to get around both ends.
 
ShawnF350 said:
Dunno why you want dimmers in a garage.
The fixture/ lamps need to be dimmable AND dimmer listed for dimming the type of light your dimming.

That blue box without the cover looks like an "old work" box.
Can be easily removed and changed to a 2 or 3 gang box IF whoever put it in didn`t yank the romex leaving no slack.

Is that a subpanel? Or the only panel you have with a disconnect outside?
Click to expand...

i want dimmers in case its too bright

subpanel? i have no idea. im clueless here with electrical stuff

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i was thinking about something like these on the wall

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i dont want to have to drag around my leds all the time



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Not much help with the fixture aspect, but that panel box is already overloaded I guarantee you. Is that the only panel in the house? If so, you need an upgrade. If that is a secondary panel I`d seriously pull old permits to see what was done. In my honest opinion you need a separate 20 amp circuit for those lights. If whoever installing all this is going to tie into existing, please politely tell him to leave.


On a separate account, not a fan of those GE panels. The way those breakers clip in is pretty jankey.
 
Nizmo said:
Not much help with the fixture aspect, but that panel box is already overloaded I guarantee you. Is that the only panel in the house? If so, you need an upgrade. If that is a secondary panel I`d seriously pull old permits to see what was done. In my honest opinion you need a separate 20 amp circuit for those lights. If whoever installing all this is going to tie into existing, please politely tell him to leave.


On a separate account, not a fan of those GE panels. The way those breakers clip in is pretty jankey.
Click to expand...

Would he really need a 20amp circuit with how little wattage those light use? I went with a dedicated 15amp circuit on my garage with 20 similar fixtures at 36w per. That`s 720 watt draw on a circuit capable of handling 1800 watts before it would trip a breaker. At least that was my understanding, but I`m no electrician.


Brandt,

Here is a thread showing some examples of lighting layouts done by a professional. I looked at a lot of them to get ideas on how to do mine.

Light Fixture Layout Collections - The Garage Journal Board

I considered doing some kind of wall lighting too but IMO mobile lights really are far more flexible and they can be positioned perfectly for each situation where fixed wall fixtures will always be limited.

Photobucket is down right now so I`ll post a pic of my layout when it
s back up but I wired mine up on 2 circuits, one with the 6 horizontal fixtures that`s shared with my exterior lights and the other with 20 fixtures. I also added (2) 3-way switches for each circuit, one by the exterior door and the other by the interior door.
 
RaskyR1 said:
Would he really need a 20amp circuit with how little wattage those light use? I went with a dedicated 15amp circuit on my garage with 20 similar fixtures at 36w per. That`s 720 watt draw on a circuit capable of handling 1800 watts before it would trip a breaker. At least that was my understanding, but I`m no electrician.
Click to expand...

You always leave a little extra for the future. My old garage had its own 20 amp lighting circuit and it was only 4 8` T8 fixtures, which was less than 500 watts.

I know I`m going to do the same with my new garage. Come spring I`ll have a new service coming to it.
 
Nizmo said:
You always leave a little extra for the future. My old garage had its own 20 amp lighting circuit and it was only 4 8` T8 fixtures, which was less than 500 watts.

I know I`m going to do the same with my new garage. Come spring I`ll have a new service coming to it.
Click to expand...

Right on. I ran 20 amp for everything else except my lights.
 
Here`s my layout. I plugged it into an online lighting software to try and get it to around 100 footcandles. With the 6 additional horizontal fixture I should be at that or higher.



 
RaskyR1 said:
Here`s my layout. I plugged it into an online lighting software to try and get it to around 100 footcandles. With the 6 additional horizontal fixture I should be at that or higher.



Click to expand...

Rasky, Do those additional 6 have a reason for being where you added them? Or was that to bring up the fc?
I`de prefer to just add another row of 5.
 
RaskyR1 said:
Here`s my layout. I plugged it into an online lighting software to try and get it to around 100 footcandles. With the 6 additional horizontal fixture I should be at that or higher.

*snip*
Click to expand...

As a electrician/mechanic, seeing that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, lol.
 
Also, when calculating for a circuit, the standard is at 80% of your breaker rating. This prevents inconveinence tripping.
So a 15a ckt is max 12a 1440w
20a ckt is max16a 1920w.
 
ShawnF350 said:
Rasky, Do those additional 6 have a reason for being where you added them? Or was that to bring up the fc?
I`de prefer to just add another row of 5.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was to have more light near the front and back walls and with the way the bulbs project light I believe this works better. The other set near the middle would offer more light on the rear of the car while it`s on the lift. I looked at a lot of the layouts in the thread I posted above and noticed it was something he did.


ShawnF350 said:
Also, when calculating for a circuit, the standard is at 80% of your breaker rating. This prevents inconveinence tripping.
So a 15a ckt is max 12a 1440w
20a ckt is max16a 1920w.
Click to expand...

Correct. So in my case I should be more then fine. I have plenty of 20 amp circuits, 2-3 on each wall with some room for expansion in the panel still. ;)

 
Well give your electrician 2 thumbs up.
That`s how all panels should look.
The house I just sold panels looked like yours after I got done with them.
Buy a new home and the darn thing is a rats nest.
 
in general im seeing it is better to have the lights the same direction as the car is pointed.

im thinking about two rows a few feet apart

my main concern is that i will end up having the lights placed in the wrong area.

the electrical aspect, i will leave up to the person who knows what they are doing


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